Discouraging First Range Report: M&P Shield 9mm

[mwsenoj]

Just got my M&P Shield today around 4 o'clock and ran out to the countryside to test it out. I couldn't hit a thing. I had limited paper targets so I warmed up on my steel targets. Everything I shot was down and left. I know I'm not jerking the trigger, but I'm thinking my grip was too hard on the small gun. I shot 100 rounds through and saw little improvement. I'm a moderately experienced shooter who usually shoots 40 and 10mm in full sized Glocks and I have always placed in the top half of our local action pistol shoots, so I'm a bit perplexed and frustrated. Any tips or insights on going to the smaller gun from my bigger Glocks?

 

[RON in PA]

Classic low left jerking of trigger by right handed shooter.

 

[Lantern]

I'd put it on a bag rest first to try and minimize how much you're influencing the placement with hold and such. Then if she's still left I'd start thinking sights. After that I get worried.

 

[Gdbyrd]

I didn't like the trigger on my M&P. It took a lot of thought to shoot it well.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Ditto on the trigger. I didn't buy a Shield because I simply don't get on well with the trigger and shot other pistols better. I probably could have trained thru it but opted to move along to other guns.

I have exactly the same problem with the 9mm M&P Shields - the problem disappeared when I benched the gun.

VooDoo

 

[TarDevil]

I had similar issues the first 75 rounds with my first subcompact. I'm not one of the more experienced shooters here, but I corrected my problem by trying to isolate my trigger finger from the other 2 (or three) on the grip. In other words, my trigger finger was tense.

I was happy with future groupings.

I'll add my opinion about the Shield trigger... it was one of the reasons I went with a different gun.

 

[Normandy]

I seem to have gotten lucky with my two Shield 9 pistols. I really like the trigger, and they both shoot accurately. I'm an "old shooter", though, and seem to have worked out most of the errors I had that pulled me off-target.

This is an example of why there are so many different manufacturers, with so many different models, eh? Just like automobiles, we all have our own preferences.

 

[HexHead]

Take the slack out of trigger, balance a penny or a dime on the front sight and pull through the trigger dry firing. Do it 100x and get back to us.

 

[thefish]

These short sight radius and compact grip guns can take a bit of getting used to.
Use the extended mag and experiment with more or less finger.
Some have said they shoot the Shield better with the trigger on the pad of the finger, some say they shoot better with the trigger at the joint.

My trigger has smoothed out nicely and has no grit, just a clean break now.

The penny trick is very telling, and dryfiring with a laser snapcap will also really help you see whats going on.

Don't get discouraged, just practice, practice, practice. And try to be systematic about it and isolate the problem. Just blasting through more ammo wont help.

The Low Left is a classic problem with hundreds of posts about it, do a search and there are tons of suggestions out there.

 

[Fiv3r]

Like others have said, it's probably what you are used to. One of the reasons I passed on the M&P (both the Compact and Shield) is the trigger. It just felt weird. Not really like a trigger found on a Glock and not really like my FNS either. It's kind of long, but not bad. I just couldn't warm up to it.

Strangely enough, and I am sure I to catch flack for it, I went with a SIG P250C instead. Even just being a DAO, I shoot it better than the M&P. The M&P is a great line of guns though. Just not my cup of tea yet.

 

[Jlr2267]

It took me a while to acclimate to the Shield trigger, but now I can shoot it fairly well.

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

Not to beat the already dead horse too much more, but I see this all the time with people new to the M&P series of firearms. They have a pretty good bit of stacking right before the trigger breaks. For many people not familiar with this it causes the muzzle to roll a bit down at the trigger break and display the classic low left shot grouping.

One of the problems is that the M&P trigger really has two different feels to it. First the free travel, then the stacking. If you teach yourself to only let out the trigger to the reset point, it will help a lot. What a lot of people are doing is using one amount of force to move the trigger in the free travel, then adding more force when they meet the stacking. This causes the muzzle to dip. If you only have to deal with the stacking force, your shot placement will be more consistent.

 

[Styx]

Just got my M&P Shield today around 4 o'clock and ran out to the countryside to test it out. I couldn't hit a thing. I had limited paper targets so I warmed up on my steel targets. Everything I shot was down and left. I know I'm not jerking the trigger, but I'm thinking my grip was too hard on the small gun. I shot 100 rounds through and saw little improvement. I'm a moderately experienced shooter who usually shoots 40 and 10mm in full sized Glocks and I have always placed in the top half of our local action pistol shoots, so I'm a bit perplexed and frustrated. Any tips or insights on going to the smaller gun from my bigger Glocks? View attachment 207566

I had the same exact problem lol... I knew what your issue was even before I clicked the link to read the thread. Even though I've shot many other pistols (never an M&P though) and never had this result, I was also told that it was how I was pulling the trigger. I haven't been back to the range to try their suggestion yet.

 

[moxie]

What distance were you shooting?

When encountering a problem such as yours, it often helps to move in much closer, say to 5 yds. Shoot there until grouping well. Then move out to 7 yds., and repeat, then 10, then 15, etc. It works.

 

[Ankeny]

When I first got my Shield I hated the trigger. No matter how much I concentrated on the trigger, the front sight would bounce like a tuning fork when the trigger broke. I did a trigger job per Dan Burwell's web site and the problem was solved.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

You can train a bit and try and resolve the issue and improve the accuracy. Takes some practice and familiarization to get optimal results with any change of guns unless one is *really* proficient.

I did that with several other pistols and then sold 'em and moved on to the stuff I shot really well right out of the box. I have to say that the only gun I fussed about was my Beretta Px4 SC - I'm glad I did.

Others I sold and replaced with a G26 that has shot so good right out of the box it made me look good. :banghead: Sometimes it's easier and more expedient to shoot what works instead of train into something else. I like the M&P pistols a lot - well built, reliable, robust, simple. But they don't like me and there are other options.

VooDoo

 

[kcofohio]

Just got my M&P Shield today around 4 o'clock and ran out to the countryside to test it out. I couldn't hit a thing. I had limited paper targets so I warmed up on my steel targets. Everything I shot was down and left. I know I'm not jerking the trigger, but I'm thinking my grip was too hard on the small gun. I shot 100 rounds through and saw little improvement. I'm a moderately experienced shooter who usually shoots 40 and 10mm in full sized Glocks and I have always placed in the top half of our local action pistol shoots, so I'm a bit perplexed and frustrated. Any tips or insights on going to the smaller gun from my bigger Glocks? View attachment 207566

Try dry-firing, and watch your muzzle. Do you see your muzzle end flip up a bit when the trigger releases the striker?

 

[RussellC]

It took me a while to acclimate to the Shield trigger, but now I can shoot it fairly well.

Same here. Mine improved dramatically with time. 100 rounds is nothing. Get some snap caps and dry fire the heck out of it. Keep shooting. These small guns exaggerate all mistakes down range. When I first got mine, the sights jumped all over when the trigger broke. It was difficult for me to hold in a stable manner. I got used to it, the trigger smoothed, and things improved. Larger guns are easier to control in the hand. Give it time and a couple thousand rounds. Some go for the Apex trigger goodies, I didnt see the need.

Russellc

 

[FireInCairo]

It's the heavy trigger. I know, my M&P Compact did the same exact thing. You could dump a thousand rounds through it, or just get a trigger job. This is why I dissuade people from S&W pistols. The triggers out of the box are some of the worst (heavy, gritty, mushy).

There are so many pistols out there with awesome triggers out of the box I can't understand why so many people defend Smith's poor choices in production triggers.

 

[Teachu2]

It's the heavy trigger. I know, my M&P Compact did the same exact thing. You could dump a thousand rounds through it, or just get a trigger job. This is why I dissuade people from S&W pistols. The triggers out of the box are some of the worst (heavy, gritty, mushy).

There are so many pistols out there with awesome triggers out of the box I can't understand why so many people defend Smith's poor choices in production triggers.

I find it amazing how many people expect all guns to work like video games, instead of mechanical devices. I have a diverse collection of carry guns, from a S&W snubbie Airweight to three 1911s to several Glocks and a Shield. All are completely stock mechanically, just as they came off the factory production line. I've spent the time and ammo to become proficient with them all. There isn't a truly bad trigger in the lot - just some that are different. The Ruger LC9 we had - now THAT was a bad trigger (pre-9S). The wife wanted one - until she shot it. She shoots a Shield just fine, tho. Had to buy a second one so I could keep mine.

 

[MrBorland]

When I first got my Shield I hated the trigger. No matter how much I concentrated on the trigger, the front sight would bounce like a tuning fork when the trigger broke. I did a trigger job per Dan Burwell's web site and the problem was solved

I had a Glock like this. The trigger had some wicked let-off that really jarred the muzzle. It wasn't a flinch, and I don't think a flinch or other shooter error should automatically be diagnosed. It can just be a characteristic of the gun and trigger. Rather than mess with that Glock, I sold it. Ironically, I bought an M&P40 and haven't had any trouble (though I did tune the trigger).

 

[BigBore45]

typical compact gun. practice makes perfect. I found that instead of trying to shoot good just go out to shoot and have fun, really brings the mechanics back and gets you on target. play games with range friends and just try odd ball shots that you will not get worked up over if you miss.

 

[FireInCairo]

I find it amazing how many people expect all guns to work like video games, instead of mechanical devices. I have a diverse collection of carry guns, from a S&W snubbie Airweight to three 1911s to several Glocks and a Shield. All are completely stock mechanically, just as they came off the factory production line. I've spent the time and ammo to become proficient with them all. There isn't a truly bad trigger in the lot - just some that are different. The Ruger LC9 we had - now THAT was a bad trigger (pre-9S). The wife wanted one - until she shot it. She shoots a Shield just fine, tho. Had to buy a second one so I could keep mine.

Triggers are not supposed to be 8+ pounds. This is a new phenomenon related to gun-control policy which is pushing gun companies to please politicians, and not the consumer/user of the gun.

Many pistols from S&W have very heavy triggers because they want to produce uniform pistols for the whole USA, but are cow-towing to pressure from liberal states like Massachusetts and California's regulatory mess.

The truth is, heavy triggers are less safe because they take the muzzle off target. No amount of practice is going to change that, though working a trigger in hard and long will smooth it out and lower the weight to a place where you don't have to fight with it to shoot accurately.

 

[mwsenoj]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions all. I got a chance to go out this afternoon right before the sun set. My first few shots had almost the same down and left so I started shooting single shots and analyzing everything I was doing as I shot. I think I was pushing the trigger to the left with my index finger (right) as I pulled. I purposed to come back straight and bam! Here is a rapid mag dump on the target at 15 yds. and then a quick video http://youtu.be/zm0tUxdHeAw

Long story short, I'm keeping the Shield!

 

[TarDevil]

Looks good. Thanks for the video.